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People suffering from podoconiosis often cannot continue their economic or social roles for prolonged periods of time and experience stigmatisation. Research points towards women being more affected by podoconiosis and podoconiosis disease management interventions being less effective for women. Women\u2019s participation in a podoconiosis disease management intervention in northern Rwanda was the focus of this study. The benefits women experienced when taking part in the intervention, and the challenges they faced when trying to follow intervention advice were explored.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>This study is based on a focused ethnography which applied several qualitative research methods, including in-depth and key informant interviews, focus group discussions, transect walks, and observations. Women\u2019s experiences with participating in a disease management intervention for podoconiosis in northern Rwanda were analysed through the lens of structural violence.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Our findings demonstrate that while the disease management intervention provided significant benefits to women suffering from podoconiosis, five, often intersecting, contextual domains made it difficult for them to participate optimally. These domains were - the cultural construction of podoconiosis, geographical conditions, personal situations, resource challenges, and intervention implementation limitations. Gender emerged as a cross-cutting factor across all these domains. Women\u2019s precarious lives and power imbalances between the women and the intervention provider impacted women\u2019s ability to optimally engage with the disease management intervention for podoconiosis.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusions<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>The context of women\u2019s lives crucially impacted their ability to participate in a podoconiosis disease management intervention as intended. The differing needs and challenges of women affected by podoconiosis should be considered when designing and delivering health interventions to achieve more equitable health outcomes.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1186\/s12939-026-02795-1","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,21]],"date-time":"2026-02-21T04:33:33Z","timestamp":1771648413000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1007\/springer_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":2,"title":["Women\u2019s participation in a disease management intervention for podoconiosis in northern Rwanda: understanding the context of women\u2019s lives"],"prefix":"10.1186","volume":"25","author":[{"given":"Corinna","family":"Thellmann","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Gemma","family":"Aellah","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Valerienne","family":"Maltemps","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Gail","family":"Davey","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Dieudonne","family":"Uwizeye","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Papreen","family":"Nahar","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"297","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,21]]},"reference":[{"issue":"5","key":"2795_CR1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e477","DOI":"10.1016\/S2214-109X(17)30140-7","volume":"5","author":"K Deribe","year":"2017","unstructured":"Deribe K, Cano J, Newport MJ, Pullan RL, Noor AM, Enquselassie F, et al. 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